You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, broken romances, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.
We’re at a photo studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a man with facial hair.” Like the film, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Health Struggles and Diagnosis
The artist was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.
“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after years away and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am
She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”
The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. That’s impolite! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with physical challenges. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her childhood, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the female band the group while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”
Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees
